Day 11 of the Helsinki demonstration by Iraqi asylum seekers: “The solution is asylum in Finland”

Xassan Kaafi Maxamed Xalane is a Somali National Television journalist living in Finland who visited Iraqis at the Helsinki Railway Square where they’ve been demonstrating for 11 days. He was kind enough to allow Migrant Tales to publish an interview with one of the demonstrators.

We consider the demonstration to be very important. These asylum seekers, who have had to face the brunt of the government’s total disregard for their safety and their human right to seek shelter, are fighting for their lives by demonstrating peacefully and democratically.

Nour M. Jamal said yesterday that they are willing to demonstrate in Helsinki for as long as is necessary.

The video interview states the following:

“We are a group of refugees that came to Finland 1.5 years ago in search of a safe place [from the violence in Iraq]. We came to Finland because of its reputation as a country that respects equality, human rights, freedom and the rule of law. We came here in search of a safe place. We have suffered from three things [while in Finland]: Migri [the Finnish Immigration Service] has tightened the rules; Migri started to throw people out of the asylum reception centers; then Migri started to deport refugees to Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan. They deported people and treated them like criminals using electric belts around their waists. We hope that they will change these regulations. Refugees suffer a lot and we hope that the Finnish government will give us asylum in this country.”